War Secretary Pete Hegseth fired back — rhetorically speaking — at Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) over a lawsuit filed Monday, saying that the Arizona Democrat was only “worried and cranky” because he was facing consequences for his own actions.
“‘Captain’ Kelly knows exactly what he did, and that he will be held to account. Thats why he’s so worried and cranky,” Hegseth posted.
“Captain” Kelly knows exactly what he did, and that he will be held to account.
Thats why he’s so worried and cranky. https://t.co/SSU9jccrx6
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) January 13, 2026
Hegseth’s comment comes one day after Kelly announced his lawsuit — in which he also named Navy Secretary John Phelan, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of War as co-defendants — claiming that Hegseth had stepped outside his Constitutional authority in censuring him and launching a review of his behavior.
“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable,” Kelly claimed. “His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.”
Hegseth, one week earlier, announced the censure and a full review of Kelly’s conduct over the Arizona senator’s role in creating a video that encouraged active duty service members to question the legality of their orders in real time.
Referring to Kelly and the other Democratic lawmakers involved as “The Seditious Six,” Hegseth noted that the retired Navy captain was the only one who was still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and announced a review of his conduct that could ultimately result in a reduction in rank and pay, or even see Kelly recalled to active duty to face a Court Martial.

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